Friday, 11 July 2014

After I had finished my short, urban wander around Southfields, I drifted in a northerly direction in search of the Thames. with no real idea of where I'd end up. My wander took me eventually to Putney, which is another area of London I'm not over familiar with.

First up I came across a ghost sign above a shop

THE EXCHANGE

which perhaps was originally some sort of merchant or corn exchange.

Ghost sign in Putney, London SW15

As I drifted around with no real purpose, I was pleasantly surprised to find an area with a village-like feel to it. The next few pictures are of Quill Lane, a narrow car-free street of terraced houses.

Quill Lane, Putney, London SW15

Quill Lane, Putney, London SW15

Quill Lane, Putney, London SW15

As I left Quill Lane and made my way down Cardinal Street I came across what appears to be a former shop, or maybe a former pub, on the corner of Lifford Street.

Former shop or pub on the corner of Lifford Street and Cardinal Street, Putney, London SW15

Once again my memory has let me down and I can't quite remember exactly where this road was. It's somewhere between Cardinal Street and the Putney High Street, but another beautiful, car-free road.

Somewhere in Putney, London SW15

As I made my weary way back to the tube station, I stopped to take a couple of pictures of the station architecture. I'm not sure these photos do it justice as it definitely looked better in real life.

Putney Bridge underground station, London SW15

Putney Bridge underground station, London SW15

The view inside the confines of the station itself were however more impressive, or rather more unusual. These are some sort of track machinery running along the train lines.

Monday, 7 July 2014

Looking at the stations towards the edges of the London Underground map, I realised that there were several that I'd never alighted at. Not the terminals at the end of each line, but the stations one or two stops from the end. Southfields on the District line to Wimbledon was one of these stations, so determined to put that right, I boarded at Earl's Court, and took the tube over the river, alighting at Southfields to start an urban wander.

Almost as soon as I exited the tube station I came across this wonderful ghost sign on the breast of a chimney. With a bit of research, I discovered that the word in the middle is TOUT and forms part of EN TOUT CAS, who are a tennis court supplier. Above this is WORLD and below is LAWN TENNIS.

Ghost sign, Southfields, London

I knew of a fairly prominent, mosaic ghost sign in Southfields, the Nourish and Flourish one, and from a distance thought I'd found it but on closer inspection it was a completely different one, now overlooking a petrol station forecourt.

UNITED SERVICE TRANSPORT Co. Ltd.

Ghost sign, Southfields, London

Eventually I found the Nourish and Flourish one, on what used to be a factory for Frame Foods.

Ghost sign, Southfields, London

As my drift around Southfields came to an end, I came across a site of abandonment and demolition not far from the Nourish and Flourish sign. I have no idea what's planned to fill this space, but am hoping it keeps the style of the older buildings in the area.

Demolition, Southfields, London

My wander didn't actually end in Southfields. I walked from here to Putney but I will feature that as a separate post as there are too many pictures for a combined post.

About Me

Having grown up in one of the London suburbs, I'm interested in John Betjeman, J.G.Ballard, London suburbs, Avengerland (Borehamwood area where the classic 1960's and 1970's TV shows were filmed). More recently I have become interested in Psychogeography and Urban, Suburban and Coastal Wandering, which is where most of the subject matter in this blog now comes from.

I'm also an avid music listener and collector since the late 1970's. I like all sorts of genres ... punk, post-punk, new wave, industrial, ambient, krautrock, alternative, indie, goth ... naturally I have quite a few items I no longer need in physical format, so here's a link to my records and CDs for sale

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